Start your story with someone stepping outside their comfort zone.

Posted in Middle School on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 60 stories

“The Barlowe Estate” by Crystal Bass

Submitted to Contest #135

Being raised in a home where things were meticulous didn't make life easy. Every spoon, fork, knife, plate, put away with precision. Every afternoon the shelves-wiped from top to bottom. The floors mopped until they sparkled. The windows washed until they were practically invisible. Every bed in every room, occupied or not, changed daily. The staircase-polished to a spectacular shine every morning. Precision and perfection was the theme of the Barlowe estate. The gardens sprawled the entirety of the estate. Everywhere you turned, exotic fl...

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“Don't Look Down” by Mary DeLong

Submitted to Contest #135

Nancy Baker lived in a small city with a high crime rate. With a thriving drug trade, burglaries, and multiple assaults, Albion was the armpit of the county. It was the kind of place people locked their car doors before driving past certain neighborhoods. Nancy worked in the public school system, but budget cuts were looming, and she realized she would be looking for a new job soon. She scanned the want ads every evening for any type of work available until she found an interesting opportunity. The police department was looking for reserve...

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“New Years Resolutions ” by Lorelai Bucheger

Submitted to Contest #135

My mother works for a circus. She's an aerial artist which means she flies on a trappies and dances in silks. She is afraid of nothing. I've never seen her afraid even once in my life. She is truly the bravest person that I know. I on the other hand, am scared of everything. You may think that I'm exaggerating, but I'm really not. I'm afraid of heights, the dark, snakes, spiders, spikey objects, even chickens. Bucky made fun of me one time and told me I was a chicken ...

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“Freedom is a 7 letter word” by Jessamie R.

Submitted to Contest #135

A spring breeze drifts through a field of cotton, the white buds sway gently as the air tugs at them with invisible strings. The morning sunlight flickers through the thin twigs of a peach tree, small shoots bursting out from the branches like an explosion of green. Golden pansies and rose coloured chrysanthemums reach for the sky, their petals a haven for buzzing bees and iridescent blue butterflies. Everything is peaceful and serene, well almost everything. Bare feet scurry cautiously along a narrow dirt path, carefully avoiding deep ru...

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“Don’t Look Back” by Rob Ryter

Submitted to Contest #135

Simeon Dharsh twirled his glass and shook his head. “I don’t buy it,” he said, with decisive finality. “I mean, if the universe is run by an all-powerful deity, why is there suffering and death? Who makes bad shit happen?”Shona Drien tried her best not to look condescending. “Simeon, it’s way more complicated than that. God is all-powerful, yes, but there is still evil, sin and wickedness in the world. That state of affairs is reconciled by theodicy, the vindication of God. You see, it has to be that way. There simply must be suffering, for ...

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“Chance and Choice” by Vivi Sojorhn

Submitted to Contest #135

Chance and Choice (With regard to Casual Bravery overcoming Discomfort) By Vivi Sojorhn A millennium and more years ago, there was a Lama who was the right hand to his life-long friend, the emperor. They lived in a large empire surrounded by craggy mountains, so that it was very difficult to get to or away from. Sometimes it is known as Shangri-la, and sometimes as Shambala. Early in the Emperor’s reign, he decided to take a wife and sent his friend, the Holy Man, to find a wife for him, and bring her back over the treacherous moun...

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“These Are The Rules ” by Tony Thatcher

Submitted to Contest #135

23.59.57, 58, 59, Go! I had exactly four minutes and thirty seconds. According to my contact, that is how long the civic surveillance system would take to refresh its memory and connections. But was it a trap? Would the predatory cameras really suspend their scanning? Running from the alley, I knelt and switched to the drill I had practised until it was instinct. Matt grey paint, brush, work left to right and keep moving. I knew I could cover the yellow stripes disfiguring five metres of pavement before I had to be back in hiding. Surely som...

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“Johnnie Walker” by Scott Christenson

Submitted to Contest #135

It’s not often you meet someone in a Haruki Murakami novel. Two chapters of courage and cowardliness would lead me to getting to know the man Murakami would later write about.A mysterious and sinister character, Johnnie Walker is named after and dresses like the mascot for Johnnie Walker brand whiskey. He is extremely cruel and violent, especially towards cats - Kafka on the ShoreMurakami was writing metaphorically, as though physical details match, there has never been any evidence of cat violence.In the summer of 1997, I had just moved to ...

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“Certifiable Brilliance” by Yolonda Dahl

Submitted to Contest #135

For many other students at Crestpoint Academy, it was just another typical Monday morning full of redundancy and bore. But for 10 year-old Norman Everett, as he stepped through those large steel doors amongst a crowd of his (now very tall) peers, this marked a period of novelty and triumph. For as fast as his little heart was beating, it seemed his feet were moving even faster in order to keep from getting hip checked or trampled by his giant co-eds. As it was discussed with his dear mother and former guidance counselor of Kinsle...

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“SOMA Vamp” by Catherine Tripp

Submitted to Contest #135

She wants to die spectacularly, suddenly, explosively with bits of Beulah stuck in the hair of gawkers and bystanders. Or, grasp the life immortal laid out so enticingly in True Blood, and the movie made from Anne Rice’s book Interview with a Vampire. She pictures herself living in a warm decadence made up of handsome men with hair that never falls out, pony tails and puffy shirts and that pale, pale luminosity. Staring for eternity into the mesmerizing, dead-sexy ice-blue eyes of the yummy LeStat d...

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“Chivalrous Andy” by Kristine Bone

Submitted to Contest #135

Note about content: This story takes place approximately 60 or 70 years ago when a "whipping" for a child's misdeed seemed appropriate in most family circles. Also, animals (cats) were not valued as pets as they are today, and there is reference to their mistreatment. Chivalrous Andy Andy watched diligently as old lady Hawkins walked near the pond. His hiding place on the woodland floor allowed him to view her well, but of course, she wouldn't be looking for him. Her skinny arms tightly held the rush basket with two hands. Grunting as s...

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“The Super Scare was Just What I Needed” by Valerie Preston

Submitted to Contest #135

I wanted to be brave, with the thought of danger, being just that, a mere thought but I was just the opposite. I was brave in events that didn’t involve heights, ledges, confined spaces, strangers, crowds and anything new I had to start. I was brave about spiders too. What actually is ‘being brave? There are the people who have to be brave for a living, firemen, policemen (and women), soldiers and sometimes teachers too; when I was at high school you had to be really tough to work at the school I went to! New teachers soon le...

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“Portrait of a Kansas Night ” by Mack Gage

Submitted to Contest #135

“Mackenzie?” You wake at night to a name nobody ever calls you, something given up in childhood and given back in adulthood unexpectedly, like so much else about the moment and the things that brought you here. It’s a sea of sheets and more pillows than you’re used to, a bed that smells like rosewater liberally doused in cat hair, a white bedspread stained here and there with the wine you both spilled that night. An hour might have passed. Two. Her voice makes it sound like a lifetime. “Hmm?” you say. Little more than a groan,...

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“Survive” by Jenna P

Submitted to Contest #135

I woke up thinking about coffee, so vividly I could smell it. It's been months since I had a cup, since I held the warm mug in my hand, steam rising and fogging up my glasses. I can even hear it brewing, the hiss and gurgle of the percolator. I force myself to open my eyes. I look around and see I'm the first one up. I'm stiff and sore, sleeping on the ground isn't something I have gotten used to. I stand up and stretch out my joints, creaking and popping as I do. I stifle a moan and stoke up the fire. I stand here warming...

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“Standing up for herself” by Maureen MacLennan

Submitted to Contest #135

Standing Up for Herself The greasy dark dish water was draining out slowly and while she waited, focused on the usual sounds coming in from the dining room, it was a hot August day so the doors and window were all open. Wiping her hands on a clean cloth nearby she turned to ask the chef if there were any more tasks, it was legitimately the end of her shift but she didn’t want him thinking she was a clock watcher. At his head shaking and quick reminder of the next weeks hours, she said her goodbyes to the servers and prep cooks in the kitc...

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Start your story with someone stepping outside their comfort zone.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 60 stories

“The Barlowe Estate” by Crystal Bass

“Don't Look Down” by Mary DeLong

“New Years Resolutions ” by Lorelai Bucheger

“Freedom is a 7 letter word” by Jessamie R.

“Don’t Look Back” by Rob Ryter

“Chance and Choice” by Vivi Sojorhn

“These Are The Rules ” by Tony Thatcher

“Johnnie Walker” by Scott Christenson

“Certifiable Brilliance” by Yolonda Dahl

“SOMA Vamp” by Catherine Tripp

“Chivalrous Andy” by Kristine Bone

“The Super Scare was Just What I Needed” by Valerie Preston

“Portrait of a Kansas Night ” by Mack Gage

“Survive” by Jenna P

“Standing up for herself” by Maureen MacLennan

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a hero or a villain deathly afraid of doing their job.

Set your story in a town full of cowards.

Write a story where fortune doesn’t favor the brave.

Write about a casual act of bravery.

Contest #135

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

212

Contest entries

154

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: